Three times in the past year, IoTaWatt has helped me identify issues with three different HVAC systems.
Over the winter, I noticed a fancy (Bosch IDS) heat pump hitting its resistance strips more often than it reasonably should, even when the house was empty with the thermostat set to 58F and the outside temperature above freezing. This is easy to spot with a CT on the circuit for the air handler. Physical investigation of the system revealed the refrigerant charge was fine, but debris from a rodent nest in the return duct was clogging the indoor coil. Without the IoTaWatt, we’d have been scratching our heads, wondering with the electric bill was so high.
Early this summer, in a different location, I noticed an outdoor A/C unit running continuously one night. Looking at a graph for the associate air handler made it obvious that its blower motor wasn’t running. Since we were 1000 miles away, I called my HVAC guy there, who came out the next day and confirmed the diagnosis: Motor for the indoor blower was shot. He replaced it the following day.
Most recently, one evening here I saw my outdoor A/C unit drawing only a small fraction of the wattage it normally does. Went outside to investigate. Fan was running, compressor was not. Pulled the disconnect, pulled the access panel, checked the capacitor. Fan side: close to 5uF like it should be. Herm side: Dead. Proceeded to kick myself for not having a spare capacitor in stock. Went to a supply house first thing the next morning and got one.
Yes, I love my IoTaWatts. I got the first early in 2024 when I was getting ready to put solar and batteries in here. I already had a critical loads panel, and the solar company insisted on knowing what the draw on my critical loads panel was. They recommended some cloud-based monitor (I think it was Sense). Well, I’m not keen on putting more of my data on anyone’s cloud service than I absolutely have to, so I asked around and found IoTaWatt. Now I have three of them in service, and I own a spare - just in case.